June 8, 2026 Summary

Posted byDacia MumfordPosted inSchool Board Meeting Summary, School Board MeetingsTags:, , ,

Key Takeaways: The board approved placing an operating referendum question on the November 3, 2026 ballot. The referendum is intended to replace revenue lost as a result of Senate Enrolled Act 1 and is not designed to increase the total amount of property tax revenue the district is seeking. A survey of 400 registered voters within the school corporation boundaries found that 75.8% expressed support for the referendum. For teachers and staff, the district will end its partnership with the Marathon Health clinic and begin offering virtual medical and mental health services through First Stop Health. The board held its first reading of a new wireless communication device policy required by state law. Witt announced that she will resign from the school board effective July 31 because she will no longer live within the school corporation boundaries. 

Agenda with links to board documents 

Topic Timestamps: YouTube Recording (The YouTube and audio recordings did not capture the first hour of the one-hour-and-fifty-minute meeting, so the available timestamps begin with the JSHS Chiller Installation agenda item.)

  • Honor WLCSC Retirees
  • Public Comment on AI Policy
  • Consent Agenda
  • Referendum Tax Levy Resolution Approved 
  • Community Engagement Update
  • 0:19 JSHS Chiller Installation Approved
  • 2:38 Information on Staff Health Clinic
  • 4:01 Discussion on Policy A310 Wireless Communication Devices
  • 38:30 Superintendent Update
  • 39:00 CFO Report
  • 40:25 Board Reports

The following is my summary of the public school board meeting, not the official meeting minutes. My personal thoughts and opinions are given in italics and represent my own views which do not necessarily reflect those of any other member of the school board. I identify myself as Mumford in the summary but use first person when describing my personal thoughts and opinions.

Honor WLSCS Retirees: The regular meeting opened with Yin participating virtually. Board members read statements recognizing WLCSC retirees.

  • Carol Letcher, music teacher, moved to West Lafayette in 2003 and began volunteering as an accompanist before gradually taking on additional teaching responsibilities. Over the years, she taught kindergarten and first-grade general music, grades 7 through 12 orchestra, percussion ensemble, wind ensemble, and junior choir. Letcher said one of her favorite experiences was traveling with music students every two years to New York or Disney. Three of my children had her as their orchestra teacher from seventh through twelfth grade, and two also had her as their junior high choir teacher. She inspired her students and gave so much of herself and her time to serve them. She will be greatly missed. 
  • David Bothel, custodian, worked for WLCSC for 23 years. He began as a custodian at the JSHS before becoming the head custodian at WLES. Bothel was well known by students because he made a point of learning their names, greeting them, and joking with them. He also helped with car drop-off and pick-up and entertained students during lunch. His presence was easy to recognize because students would wave and call out to “Mr. Waffle” or “Mr. Grumpy,” depending on the day. 
  • Julie Bauerband, English/Multilingual teacher at WLIS and the JSHS, shared a highlight when she invited a guest speaker to her seventh- and eighth-grade classes. A friend who volunteers with Lafayette Transitional Housing demonstrated how to make sleeping mats for unsheltered people using plastic grocery bags. Although the lesson connected to pollution and recycling, Bauerbank believed the hands-on experience would stay with students for many years. She said the kindness and compassion shown by the teenagers was overwhelming and gave her hope for the future. 
  • Jennifer King taught in the district from 2012 through 2026. She began as an ESL tutor at Happy Hollow, taught grades second through sixth for six years at Lafayette Catholic Schools, and then taught sixth grade at WLIS for 14 years. King said some of her favorite memories included participating in Living History Day with staff, watching students memorize poems, sharing lunch and laughter with colleagues in the teacher café, and seeing respect for cultural diversity reflected each day as a core value of the school corporation. 
  • Cindy Nycz taught physical education at WLES and previously taught third grade. She recently became a certified wellness coach and is eager to help adults achieve and maintain healthy lifestyles. Nycz said one of her proudest accomplishments was launching Family PE Week at WLES. 
  • Marydell Forbes taught English language arts at the JSHS for 14 years. She said one of her favorite accomplishments was helping the English Academic Super Bowl team advance to the state competition three years in a row. 
  • Paul Gray served as a custodian at the JSHS for more than 30 years, often working over 50 hours a week. His responsibilities extended far beyond cleaning the school and included setting up for special events, removing snow, repairing equipment, and responding to emergencies. Gray was known as a reliable, dependable, and exceptionally hard-working employee. 

Communication from the Audience (those who had signed up before the meeting began) 

  • Ada, 6th grade student, asked the board to adopt a clear policy on artificial intelligence that defines appropriate and inappropriate uses, establishes firm boundaries, and addresses ethical concerns. She said the policy is needed now because students in her grade are already using AI to generate answers for schoolwork. Ada also recommended that the policy address teachers’ use of AI for lesson planning. She said AI should not be used to produce answers for student assignments or to create lesson plans. 

Consent Agenda:

  • Agenda for the June 8, 2026 Regular Board Meeting 
  • Minutes of the May 11, 2026 Regular Board Meeting 
  • Minutes of the June 3, 2026 Work Session 
  • Field Trips: WLHS Dance Team and Track & Field
  • 2026-2027 WVEC Operating Agreement Renewal
  • 2028-2029 School Calendar
  • Personnel Report
  • Accounts Payable

Voted 7 out of 7

Referendum Tax Levy Resolution: Greiner asked the board to approve the Referendum Tax Levy Resolution, the next required step for placing an operating referendum question on the November 3, 2026 ballot. He explained that the resolution and revenue spending plan establish the proposed ballot language, tax rate, and intended use of the revenue. 

Voted 6 out of 6 (Yin attended the meeting virtually and so was not permitted to participate in the discussion or vote on this agenda item, as required by Indiana law.) 

Community Engagement Update: Jeff Dehler of Dehler PR shared the district’s communication strategy and community engagement efforts leading up to the November 3 referendum vote. Dehler said approximately two dozen people were invited to participate in a community sounding board, with about 10 taking part across three virtual sessions in May and June. He explained that the sessions allowed the district to present issues and challenges to a range of stakeholders, gather their feedback and questions, and better identify the information the broader community would need.  

Dehler explained that the proposed higher referendum rate is intended to offset revenue losses caused by Senate Enrolled Act 1, not to increase the total amount of property tax revenue the district is seeking. He added that the board can choose not to levy the full approved rate in the first year or in future years because the goal is to replace lost revenue rather than generate additional revenue. Because individual school property tax bills may increase, decrease, or remain the same depending on several factors, the district plans to provide a tax calculator to help residents estimate the referendum’s impact. Dehler also noted that more than 50 school corporations are pursuing referendums this year, compared with about 10 in a typical year, largely because of funding losses associated with SEA 1. The legally required ballot language is complex and may be confusing or misleading to voters. Clearly explaining each part of the ballot language will be an important part of informing the community. 

The board held a work session on June 3rd to review survey results presented by the Morris Leatherman Company. The work session is available on YouTube. The survey included interviews with 400 registered voters living within the school corporation boundaries. Morris Leatherman reported that the 2026 results were very similar to those from 2023, with slightly fewer assigning C grades and slightly more respondents assigning B grades. 87% of the local survey respondents gave the district an A or B, compared with 46% in the national survey. Morris Leatherman emphasized that the national survey asked respondents to grade their own local public schools, not public schools nationwide. After respondents received additional information about the proposed referendum funding, support was 75.8%. Positive responses to the proposed uses of referendum funding ranged from 73% to 90%, while negative responses ranged from 7% to 16%. The strongest positive reactions were connected to helping students who struggle with core academic subjects and maintaining competitive staff compensation. Maintaining class sizes and comparisons of per-student funding produced somewhat smaller, though still positive, effects.

0:19 JSHS Chiller Installation: Roth explained that three companies submitted bids for replacement of the JSHS chiller. Creative Engineering recommended D.A. Dodd as the lowest and most responsive bidder. D.A. Dodd had also received the contract for the Happy Hollow chiller. Roth recommended accepting the base bid and issuing a letter of intent so the contractor could begin securing materials, labor, and insurance while the final contract was prepared. The contract process will be overseen by Jon Becker, legal counsel, at CCHA.

Voted 7 out of 7

2:38 Clinic and 1st Stop Health: Roth reported that, based on feedback from the district’s insurance committee, WLCSC notified Marathon Health that it will end its relationship with the employee clinic. The district will instead partner with First Stop Health to provide virtual medical and mental health services to employees and other health plan users. Roth said the insurance committee believed the change would reduce costs while improving convenient access to virtual services. She explained that the Marathon Health relationship began using funds available during the COVID-19 pandemic, but staff members had since expressed greater interest in quick and easily accessible virtual care. Information about the transition had already been shared with staff.

4:01 Policy A301 Wireless Communication Device: Austin explained that this was the policy’s first reading, with no vote, and that the administrative guidelines would be considered separately. Witt recommended waiting for forthcoming Indiana Department of Education guidance, which she expected could require substantial revisions, while Austin said beginning the process now would help establish expectations before the school year. Austin wanted the second reading to happen at the July 20th board meeting. Purpura supported treating the discussion as a first reading but wanted families to have more opportunity for input and recommended starting with only the restrictions required by law. He suggested that administrators could begin the school year with building-level expectations and that the board could formally approve a corporation policy after families had an opportunity to provide feedback. Greiner said the policy was written broadly to align with state law with details placed in administrative guidelines.

Chad Rodgers, JSHS principal, explained that the JSHS’s proposed guidelines would represent a significant change because students have previously been permitted to use phones in hallways and during lunch. He said some districts had considered locking pouches or magnetic storage systems, but the estimated cost for magnetic pouches alone was approximately $60,000, in addition to the cost of deactivation devices. Many teachers prefer students to leave their phone in their locker or car rather than carry it in their backpack. Rodgers said that the proposed rule at the JSHS is that students would not be allowed to have any devices in their backpack and would be told to leave it in their locker or car. Violations would be handled through progressively increasing consequences. He wanted to avoid suspending students solely for phone violations, although repeated intentional violations could eventually become an insubordination issue. He said administrators, teachers, students, and families would all need time to adjust.

Witt raised concerns about students whose IEPs or medical needs involve the use of communication devices. She said the language appeared to prohibit device use unless the need was specifically documented in an IEP or supported by a physician’s statement. Witt warned that implementing such a requirement at the beginning of the school year could create additional work for special education staff and families. Purpura asked how the restrictions would affect student organizations that use electronic devices during lunch, including gaming clubs.

Mumford raised concerns about students’ access to phones during emergencies, noting that the district has experienced emergencies in the recent past. She said students may be anxious if they are unable to communicate with their parents and questioned why the proposed JSHS guidelines go beyond the state requirement that phones not be used during the school day. Mumford said requiring devices to be stored in lockers could make communication more difficult during an emergency, while a powered-off phone kept at the bottom of a backpack would satisfy the state requirement and remain accessible if students had to evacuate the building. 

Purpura agreed with Mumford and said that he also opposed requiring students to store devices in lockers. That rule would create unnecessary logistical problems, including students returning after school because they had forgotten their phones. He recommended beginning with the minimum restrictions required by law and becoming more restrictive only if problems developed. 

The JSHS revised its proposed guidelines and will allow students to keep their devices in their backpacks rather than requiring them to be stored in lockers or left in cars. The JSHS sent an email to families with the new JSHS device guidelines. Families were invited to submit questions and feedback, and the school is preparing to send students and families a list of frequently asked questions. The district policy will next be discussed at the August 10 board meeting. 

38:30 Superintendent Report: Greiner thanked the high school administration, faculty, staff, and board members for supporting the graduation ceremony and also thanked the sounding board committee for providing feedback that will help guide the district’s referendum communication efforts. 

39:00 CFO Report

40:25 Board Reports: Witt announced her resignation from the school board effective July 31, 2026, because she will no longer reside within the school corporation boundaries. Two applicants submitted applications to fill the vacancy for the remaining five months of the term. They will be interviewed at the July 20 board meeting, and the board is expected to vote on the appointment at the August meeting. The person selected will serve through December. Three board seats will be on the November ballot for four-year terms that begin in January. Wang and I are running as incumbents each seeking our second terms. Two additional community members are also running.

52:44 The meeting was adjourned. 

Upcoming Public Meetings in the Central Office Board Room, located at 3061 Benton Street:

  • Regular Board Meeting: July 20, 2026 at 5pm* (Please note that both the date and time differ from the board’s regular monthly meeting schedule.) 

This document is my summary of the public school board meeting, not the official meeting minutes. My personal thoughts and opinions are given in italics and represent my own views which do not necessarily reflect those of any other member of the school board. I identify myself as Mumford in the summary but use first person when describing my personal thoughts and opinions. Previous agendas, minutes, and audio recordings can be found at the WLCSC website.

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